"We stand behind our ad and will continue to tell the truth about
Congressman Roy Blunt's attempt to slip a secret provision into the Homeland
Security Act to benefit tobacco giant Philip Morris, while he was dating the
company's lobbyist. It's unclear why Fox News refuses to stand by its own
content that simply asked questions about Congressman Blunt's Washington
record and ties to convicted felon lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Congressman
Blunt's 14-year record of wasteful spending, corruption and sticking it to
the middle class represents the very worst of Washington: he does not
deserve a promotion to the Senate."

Original post follows...

Saying that a campaign advertisement compromises its "apparent objectivity," Fox News yesterday filed suit against Robin Carnahan's senate campaign over a commercial that uses footage taken from the broadcaster.

The lawsuit stems from an interview Congressman Roy Blunt gave to Fox News' Chris Wallace in 2006 in which the television reporter questioned Blunt about his ties to the tobacco lobby and his campaign committees gift to a firm linked to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Carnahan is using excerpt from that interview in a television ad painting her G.O.P. rival as the "Very Worst of Washington."

According to the Hollywood Reporter, which broke the news today, Fox News and Chris Wallace are seeking unspecified monetary damages and demanding that Carnahan's campaign pull the commercial. The website adds that the using media interviews in political ads is a common practice and generally considered to be "fair use" under copyright laws.

Daily RFT has a request for comment out with the Carnahan campaign. In the meantime, we see that the campaign has removed the ad from its website with the message: "The interview with Roy Blunt that Fox News doesn't want you to see has been temporarily removed. Check back soon."

The ad is also gone from YouTube. As of this writing, a copy can still be found on stltoday.com.